The Nova-C lunar lander, also known as Odyssey, did not wake up from sleep mode after the lunar night and thus ceased operation forever. The device was not designed to withstand extremely low temperatures, the American company that developed the device, Intuitive Machines, reported on social network X. Nova-C was put into sleep mode on March 1 with the onset of the lunar night.
“As of 10:30 Central American time (19:30 Moscow time) on March 23, flight control specialists came to the conclusion that their forecasts were correct – the Odyssey power system will no longer be able to send a signal to Earth. This confirms that Odyssey has ceased operations forever, leaving its mark on history as the first commercial lunar lander to land on the Moon,” the company noted.
Previously, Intuitive Machines said that before the vehicle's batteries ran out, they converted it to a configuration that would allow it to continue operating if Odyssey's systems did start up after being tested in harsh lunar conditions, exceeding the expectations of its designers.
On February 23, Nova-C landed on the lunar surface in the area of the Malapert A crater, 300 km from the satellite’s south pole. The landing of the device took place in emergency mode due to the failure of a number of on-board systems. As a result, one of the supports was broken, and the module tipped over on its side at an angle of 30°, which is why one of the solar panels turned out to be facing away from the Sun and could not fully recharge the battery.
Despite the miscalculations, Odyssey worked for more than six days, collecting a large array of data with a total volume of about 350 MB, which were sent to Earth.
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